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North and South Korea Meet in Latest Bid to Improve Relations North and South Korea Meet in Latest Bid to Improve Relations
(about 21 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — Officials from North and South Korea met Friday in the latest effort to improve relations on the divided Korean Peninsula, where military tension along the world’s most heavily armed border has often alternated with short-lived attempts at reconciliation. SEOUL, South Korea — Officials from North and South Korea met Friday in the latest effort to improve relations on the divided Korean Peninsula, where military tension along the world’s most heavily militarized border has often alternated with short-lived attempts at reconciliation.
Few analysts expected any major breakthroughs from the talks, which were being led by a vice minister from each side.Few analysts expected any major breakthroughs from the talks, which were being led by a vice minister from each side.
The negotiators met in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, in an industrial complex that the countries have jointly run for more than a decade. Hwang Boo-gi, a vice minister of unification, led the South Korean delegation that crossed the border on Friday morning.The negotiators met in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, in an industrial complex that the countries have jointly run for more than a decade. Hwang Boo-gi, a vice minister of unification, led the South Korean delegation that crossed the border on Friday morning.
“There are many issues to discuss between the South and North,” Mr. Hwang told reporters before leaving. “We will do our best to tackle one issue at a time.”“There are many issues to discuss between the South and North,” Mr. Hwang told reporters before leaving. “We will do our best to tackle one issue at a time.”
The Koreas — which technically have been in a state of war for more than 60 years, the Korean War having ended with a truce and not a peace treaty — seemed headed toward an armed clash as recently as August, after the South accused the North of planting land mines that maimed two of its border guards, which the North denied. Formally, the Koreas have been in a state of war for more than 60 years, the Korean War having ended with a truce and not a peace treaty. They seemed headed toward an armed clash as recently as August, after the South accused the North of planting land mines that maimed two of its border guards, which the North denied.
After weeks of escalating tension, both sides agreed to talks. In October, they organized reunions of aging family members who had been separated since the Korean War, reviving a program that has been held sporadically in times of relative warmth between the countries. In October, both sides revived a program of reuniting family members separated since the Korean War. South Korea was expected to call for the reunions to be held on a regular basis.
At the talks on Friday, South Korea was expected to call for those reunions to be held on a regular basis. At the same time, North Korea wants the South to resume a program that sent South Korean tourists to a North Korean mountain resort. That program was a valued source of cash for the North until 2008, when it was suspended after North Korean soldiers killed one of the tourists, who was said to have wandered into a restricted area.